More often than not, you end up eating when you really should be quenching your thirst. Our body confuses hunger with thirst and gives out wrong signals. It takes conscious effort on our part to develop the skill to distinguish between hunger and thirst. Till such time, it would be a safer bet to drink some water every time you feel hungry out of turn.

If you start your meal by drinking a glass of water, obviously there is less room for food. Then by taking a few sips of water during the meal, you will get that full feeling without eating a lot. This is a sure shot way of preventing overeating, the last thing you want when you are trying to lose weight!

It is absolutely necessary to drink water before, during and after your workout. A workout can leave you terribly dehydrated and all the water loss needs to be adequately compensated. There is no point stretching yourself when your throat is parched, you are panting and really need to quench your thirst. Having said that, you shouldn't gulp down liters of water during your workout. This will leave you stomach feeling too heavy and your body will not be in a position to complete the strenuous workout. The idea is to prevent dehydration and all you need is a few intermittent sips. This also enables you to workout longer more consistently. Once your workout is over, though, you can drink as much water as you want – coz all you are going to do now is get some rest.

If you think of it, there is no real substitute for water. Flavored water, juices, lemonades, aerated drinks may seem to do a better job than water in quenching thirst but it’s not sustainable and definitely not without side-effects. Juices are loaded with calories – one glass a day is fine but you cannot drink juice instead of water throughout the day. Even if you use sugar substitutes instead of sugar in lemonades or drink only diet sodas, you are gulping down a lot of chemicals and this is definitely going to affect your health in the long run – especially if you are going to reach out to one of these drinks every time your body needs water. Although it’s ok to have these drinks once in a while, they cannot replace water in your daily diet. Your body needs at least 2 liters of water each day and any of these drinks should be taken only in addition to your water intake. Trust me, if you get into the habit of drinking at least 8 glasses of water a day, your need for these drinks will drastically reduce which in turn results in a healthier lifestyle!

Warm water or Cold water?

The temperature of the water plays a critical role in achieving the desired fat loss. Preferably, you should drink water that’s somewhere between warm and hot – the warmer the better for melting fats. The concept is similar to hot tea helping us lose weight. A living proof of this fact being the Chinese who always drink hot tea, even with their meals – ever seen a fat Chinese?? Research has shown that it’s the temperature and not so much the tea that helps in weight loss. So even plain water should do the trick. I do understand it’s not always possible to drink warm water. So, when you are at home or in a place where warm water is available stick to it. At other times, try to drink water at room temperature or at least avoid putting ice in the water.

It may take time to inculcate these practices into your lifestyle especially the drinking warm water one, but, when you start seeing the enormous benefits, you will not want to go back to your old habits.

- Drink at least 2 liters of water everyday

- Drink warm/ hot water whenever possible – avoid ice at all costs

- If you feel hungry out of turn, drink water to make sure it’s not thirst your body is interpreting as hunger

- Drink water before and during a meal – really controls overeating

- Avoid replacing water with other drinks – there is no substitute for water

- Drink water before, during and after workout – prevents dehydration and prolongs the workout duration

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